By Jesse Graham
THE council is calling on residents to nominate people who have improved their communities for next year’s Australia Day Awards, with nominations set to close on 12 December.
The Yarra Ranges Council’s Australia Day Awards nominations are currently open via the council’s website ahead of the awards ceremony on Thursday, 26 January, 2017.
Mayor Noel Cliff said the awards were a chance to thank people who gave to their communities, and encouraged residents to make a nomination before the closing date of Monday 12 December.
“We want to honour the commitment of those who work hard to make a difference in our community,” Cr Cliff said.
“These are the people who challenge us to make our own contribution greater.”
The Citizen of the Year award is open to people above the age of 26 as of Australia Day, while the Young Citizen of the Year and the Ken McIntosh Memorial Award for Young Environmental Achievers are open for people under the age of 26; other awards include the Environmental Achiever of the Year, Community Group of the Year and the Mayor’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Yarra Junction footballer Brendon Murphy was the 2016 Yarra Ranges Citizen of the Year, for his work in creating a video with members of the AFL Yarra Ranges league that condemned violence against women.
Switching from player to player, the men in the video said that every week, a woman was killed by her partner or ex-partner in Australia – “by a man who should know better, with mates who should know better”.
“The only number of acceptable deaths from domestic violence is zero,” Mr Murphy said in the video.
The video was viewed thousands of times, shared around Facebook by players and residents and featured on television and through media outlets.
For more information about nominating a resident, visit www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/about-council/australia-day-awards-2017
